Here there be rants. There will be Freeman stuff, Lawful Rebellion stuff and Random stuff. I am rebelling because I want my country back. My lawful obligations are as follows: “together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they see fit…”
Article 61 Magna Carta 1215

July 11, 2011

BZZZZZZT!! Take That Old Man!

Who will they zap next?

Newborns? Those in wheelchairs? People on life support?

Our sick coppers are at it again. This time they made an 82 year old man dance at the end of their new toy.

Look:

"An 82-year-old pensioner required hospital treatment after being tasered by police, a watchdog has said.

The elderly man was being arrested for carrying an offensive weapon and criminal damage when officers fired the electroshock weapon at him."

The old fella was taken to hospital from where he was later discharged. The full storycan be found here.

To the nameless pensioner: I hope you get well soon.

To the spineless copper who tasered him: I hope your next shit is a hedgehog dipped in napalm.

Yes, yes, I know we don't have all the facts, but an 82 year old man is not a threat to anyone. Least of all to strapping 6 foot bobbies. Following the enquiry I am betting that the conclusion will be that the cop had around 9 other options he could have tried absolutely no other options as the old guy was about to kill everyone in sight with his bare hands. Twice.

Captain, when you have gangs like this one roaming around, law enforcement needs all the protection it can get.

;)

Perhaps the officers involved in this case had seen that before they went out, and thought it was a public information film....

In all seriousness, it's rather scary that the Thorshield video essentially seems to refer to all aspects of law enforcement as "urban peacekeeping" and those involved being "on the front lines of modern warfare" (said whilst the video shows, um, an unarmed civilian forced out of their car at taserpoint), with the Thorshield as "the active counter-measure that brings the advantage back to the war fighter".

Years ago, when they were only armed with a truncheon, bravery was a given. Now they are handing out these non-lethals to all and sundry. No bravery required, see? They just point and press. Their mates higher up will take care of them.

That video was disturbing. I felt like the enemy after watching it. I didn't before.

The article's pretty short on detail at the moment. I'm particularly interested to know if they actually fired the taser at him as suggested or if they used it in what I've come to think of as the cattle prod mode. I feel shooting the darts across a space and into someone's body is more likely to be a considered action on the part of a cop using a taser, though of course it can still be abused, but have some real concerns about the continued electrocution of someone after they've been hit with the darts and even more about the cattle prod style 'zap 'em 'til they do as they're told' incidents we're seeing just about everywhere that tasers are used. As I said, it'll be interesting to see which category this case falls into.

Police have been given the go-ahead to useTaser stun guns against children.The relaxing of restrictions on the use of the weapons comes despite warnings that they could trigger a heart attack in youngsters. The body count in North American now stands at over 287 after having been tasered with this "less than lethal" device. 15 Canadians and over 272 Americans since 2001.

In America, when the Red Sox won, there was a spontaneous celebration in the street in Boston. Not a riot. Peaceful and cheerful. They rushed to run out to the field to celebrate and the police began randomly sniping into the crowd (non-lethal, whatever), and shot to death a 19 yr old girl.Worst of all, it was hardly a big deal. No one was outraged.The police are now trained to be cowards.